The Annex: the New Frontier in Aussie Menswear

A monochromatic color palette, an eye-catching graffiti back wall, a minimalist appearance...

Recently Mother and Father PR introduced me to a new frontier in the best of Australian menswear—a store called the Annex, which carries many of the brands that I feature on this site.

Located in the heart of Bond Beach in Sydney, the Annex is owned by Stephanie Reeve and Glen Vilo who offer a variety of styles but strictly for the fashion-forward male.

If you can’t get your Aussie fashion fix by going to Australia, click onto the Annex online store and shop for your favoring Australian brands, ranging from sunglasses to footwear.

But be careful to convert the prices into your local currency!

Photos Copyright the Annex.

“Nightswimmer” by Ute Ploier in Spring/Summer 2011

I have just received a refreshing press release from Ute Ploier about “Nightswimmer”—the 2011 spring/summer collection:

The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas swims every day no matter where his work takes him.

“I swim every day wherever I am. And I always swim in the public baths. I think it is a way of injecting yourself, as naked as you can be, into a particular society and learning to understand it.”

The initial inspiration for Nightswimmer was about an artist’s work clothes. His work can be very physical.

He has to be able to move around freely to create or might even use his body as part of his artwork. Similar to an athlete.

The collection’s clothes are cut oversized but brought closer to the body by folding, pleating or gathering.

The look is casual and light yet sharp and streamlined. Colours are inspired by a night’s swim in the pool.

Photos & text Copyright Ute Ploier.

Ute Ploier & the Working Man in Autumn/Winter 2010

For autumn/winter 2010-11, Austrian designer Ute Ploier strikes a relationship between man and his work, illustrating the point that, nowadays, work often entails a process rather than a concrete product.

Focusing on abstract procedures, man can lack the sensual connection between creator and creation.

Inspired by craftsmen like glassblowers and blacksmiths, the collection takes us back to the roots of working men.

Geometric shapes, soft materials, and the draping so typical of Ute’s touch all complete the collection.

Ute Ploier launched her eponymous label in 2003 after winning best menswear collection at the Hyères Festival of Fashion.


Ute Ploier - Show Video - Collection AW 2010/11 from Ute Ploier on Vimeo

Ute Ploier Challenges the Copernican Universe of Menswear

This year the European Union has awarded the European Capital of Culture to Linz, Austria, the city in which Johannes Kepler discovered the law of planetary motion and birthplace of award-winning designer, Ute Ploier.

Like the critical thinking Kepler, who overthrew the established notions of astronomy and physics in his assertion that planets move in ellipses rather than epicycles, Ute Ploier has been overturning traditional concepts of men's apparel since her first debut in 2003!

Orbiting outside the perfect circle of menswear, Ute Ploier moves in asymmetrical trends as she applies elongated circles and atypical blends of fabrics, patterns, and manufacturing techniques, challenging the stereotypical expectations of masculinity and men's apparel.

Slide Show 2009 a/w collection Copyright Ute Ploier.